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Looking ahead to 2020: The changes we want to see

We asked Global Witness staff what changes they want to
see in 2020 to tackle the climate crisis, stop corruption and keep land and
environmental defenders safe. These are huge challenges facing the world today,
but we have some concrete and lasting solutions…

Keep corrupt money out of the US

After a decade campaigning for corporate ownership transparency in
the US, so
that it’s no longer possible to hide who owns and controls companies, the House of Representatives finally passed a bill that
would require disclosure of company ownership. Now, we look ahead to 2020 when
the Senate is poised to take up similar legislation – the next step to making
this law a reality and to help keep corrupt money out of the US.

Julie Anne Miranda-Brobeck, US Communications Manager

Deter corruption in the oil and gas industry

In an alarming development for oil and gas transparency
around the world, the US
recently proposed an oil and gas payment disclosure rule that is incredibly
weak, appearing to be a handout to the oil and gas industry. To deter corruption, the final rule must require US-listed extractives companies to disclose payments they
make to the US and foreign governments at the project level. Time and again, we see how billions of oil and gas dollars
end up lining pockets of corrupt officials. In 2020, we will fight
to strengthen this transparency rule and ensure US-listed extractives companies
are deterred from pursuing corrupt deals abroad.

Julie Anne Miranda-Brobeck, US Communications Manager

Businesses and governments to keep defenders safe

Land and environmental defenders will only be able to carry
out their activism safely when states, companies and investors take action to
prevent attacks against them, protect those defenders who are at risk, and
react when threats do occur. This means tackling the root causes of threats
against defenders, supporting and protecting them on the front line, and
ensuring that those responsible for attacks on defenders are brought to
justice.

Ali Hines, Senior Campaigner, Land and Environmental
Defenders

For Filipino land and environmental defenders to protect
their land and our planet without fearing for their lives, Duterte’s government
must first stop smearing activists and secondly provide justice for attacks
against them. It also needs to put in place effective measures to regulate
business and prevent the damaging effects of many extractive and agribusiness
projects. But regardless of whether the Filipino government takes a stand, 2020
should be the year in which those investing in the country begin to do so
responsibly. Businesses like those we exposed
in our investigation must do proper due diligence and implement effective
policies to safeguard the environment, human rights and those who protect them.

Ben Leather, Senior Campaigner, Land and Environmental
Defenders

European Union acts as a global leader in tackling the climate crisis

We want the EU to show global leadership in taking action to
protect people and planet by tackling the climate emergency and ending all
support to fossil fuels including gas, address corruption risks through golden visa schemes
by phasing them out, holding corporates and finance to account for their
impacts and tackling deforestation by addressing the financing of this
destruction.

Rachel Owens, Head of EU Office

Leaders at COP 26 take real action on fossil fuels

We want to see the UK government become a real climate
leader ahead of the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow. Real climate leaders
don’t pledge to dig up every drop of oil and gas out of the North Sea. Real
climate leaders don’t spend billions of pounds on funding fossil fuel projects
overseas. We need to see an end to new licensing for North Sea oil and gas
extraction, redirection of the billions of fossil fuel subsidies towards paying
for a just transition for affected workers, and an end to funding fossil fuel
projects across the world.

Adam McGibbon, Senior Campaigner, Climate team

New EU legislation to tackle corruption

In 2020 I’d like to see the major legislative world players,
especially the EU, step up to pass legislation tackling corruption in the same
way that the US Global Magnitsky Act does. We’ve seen the US use the Act to
sanction infamous businessman Dan Gertler, whom we’ve
written about extensively, only for Gertler to move all his dollars into
Euros. The EU has a good human rights sanctions regime but this must be
expanded to include corruption in order to close this gaping loophole.

Peter Jones, Campaign Leader, Corruption
Investigations

World leaders stop financial flows to deforestation

The year 2020 will be a crucial one for the world’s forests – when
corporate commitments to eliminate deforestation from supply chains by 2020 are
likely to be missed. In 2020, we need to see world leaders take action to
require the financial sector to ensure it is not contributing to climate
breakdown by continuing to back companies associated with deforestation. As the
host of the key UN meeting on climate change in 2020, we want the UK to show
global leadership by tackling the financial flows to deforestation from UK
banks. And we hope that the EU will take forward plans to require companies,
including finance, to undertake due diligence on their supply chains and
investments to ensure they are not contributing to deforestation, environmental
harm and human rights abuses.